Balasore (Odisha) Aug 2 (PTI) Trade union leader, activist and five-time MLA of Odisha, Arun Dey, passed away at the age of 75 at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar on Monday, family sources said.

Dey, a bachelor, was being treated for post-COVID-19 complications. His oxygen level was depleting for which he was in the ICU for some period.

He died following a cardiac arrest in the evening, hospital sources said.

A firebrand student leader in the 1960s during his college days, Dey joined the Communist Party of India (CPI) in 1971 and contested from the Balasore constituency in 1974 and won the seat. He was elected to the Assembly in 1980 and 1990 from the seat. In 1995 he contested as an independent candidate and won it. In 2004 he was again elected on behalf of the Odisha Gana Parishad.

Dey had contested the assembly election from Balasore in 2014 on Congress ticket. However, he lost to the Biju Janata Dal's Jiban Pradip Das.

The veteran leader joined the BJD headed by Chief Minister Patnaik ahead of the 2019 elections. He, however, left the party after 10 days as he did not get a ticket to contest either the Lok Sabha or the assembly polls.

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